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Friday is a special day for the furries, there’s a tradition of posting photographs on social media under the hashtag fursuitfriday, (#fursuitfriday) Have a look and see what my fellow fuzzies are up to!

A classic #fursuitfriday image of Marshall

In campaign news, the At Home With The Furries Kickstarter is now up to 44% backed with 85 supporters, there are 19 days left so worth getting pledges in sooner rather than later. One thing that’s worth mentioning is that the funds are only taken from backers at the end of the campaign, April 5th. And that’s assuming the target is met, no target, no money and that’s the end of the story. But we don’t want to do that, oh no! Fingers and paws crossed. Click here

The furries are hugging to get this project over the line

In publicity news, Cosmopolitan interviewed me for their website (the US version) and did a really nice job with the feature. The conversation took place over the phone and I’m pleased that the journalist Kaitlin Menza included my anecodotes about furries, scalies and featheries. Thanks to the photo editor, Kathleen Kamphausen for organising that. See here

Lupus Londonwolf and Alfa Fox

Finally, I was pleased to hear from an old friend, Wolfy who I got to know at one of my very first furmeets in London. It was one of those classic situations where I was with some friends and I noticed he was on his own, we got chatting and it turned out he knew me through the magazine, Bizarre ( I used to be the photo editor there) he was a keen reader and we have kept in touch since through social media and the odd furmeet and convention. He backed the book this week and tweeted the following.

“Before (the furries) I had no social life. Struggled like hell with people and often had panic attacks. It wasn’t until I started to go to furry meets that I actually felt connected with people. For the most part the people were friendly and welcoming and very understanding. I still struggle at times in crowds but I have been to conventions, done furry camping. Things that would have scared the hell out of me 10 years ago”

There are plenty of fantastic rewards available, postcards, limited edition prints, the book and lots of actual fur, including slipcases and tote bags. You can pledge any amount to back the campaign. Click here and let Pazuzu tell you more

Straight off the bat, I am so grateful to each and every one of you who have backed, shared and mentioned the At Home With The Furries book Kickstarter campaign so far. This book is about communicating a thought I had nearly ten years ago, I had no idea then that I would be now sitting here writing a blog post about how privileged I am to have this level of support for the project.

To break it down into numbers, we launched on Tuesday at 8am and since then 67 amazing people have pledged just over £3000, putting us just shy of 33% of the total required to publish the book. The campaign closes on April 5th.

A sample of the fur being used by Curious Creatures to make the furry slipcases. One of the campaign rewards

It was always my intention to publish a book of the work, and every magazine feature, exhibition, website and press article that has been published in the subsequent years since I started the project helped me along towards that goal.

From the Absolut Manifesto Festival, Madrid, January 2018

I should add at this point that this project has been and is only possible because I have the support of the furries themselves. Those who have featured in the book of course, but also those who I’ve met more widely, through for example social media, sometimes following that up in person at furry meets and conventions. Perhaps furries who have visited from abroad and we’ve met for a coffee, a tea or a pint.

Shooting the film for the Kickstarter campaign with Syrrus Fox and Lupestripe

The project has grown organically, through being given the nod by furries I had photographed, and other furs I met at meets and on walks. In 2013 when The Sunday Times Magazine featured the project, I had no idea that I was only halfway through at that point. Since then, Saethwr, Fangorn, Rebel, Pazuzu, Bucky, Zepp, Blacksnip, Edward Fuzzypaws and many more furs have allowed me to go to their homes and make portraits of them.

Edward Fuzzypaws, a poodle and Teddy, a labradoodle in their drawing room

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Last month I received a lovely email asking me if I would like to be a collaborator to a new music and art festival in Madrid end of January sponsored by Absolut.

They were interested in the furry project and since it hasn’t been shown in a physical space outside of the U.K, I thought why not!

The themes of the festival; equality, love and responsibility to the future resonate with the reasoning and ethics behind At Home With The Furries. Plus they revealed their intention to print eight images absolutely huge. Each one six feet tall, from a scaffold.

There’s also the added excitement of the fact that local furries from Madrid will be in attendance, which is always helpful in bringing the work to life. We did this with Fix Photo where some of the actual furries in the project suited up for the launch party of the exhibition. The word I received back from attendees was that my work was the best part of the exhibition, I’m not biased honest.

But what are the #furries you ask, what is your project, what the fur is going on?

Jester, a sergal and Red, a lion play a game of tabletop roleplay in Sheffield

I’m headlining mum

Zuki, the gargoyle, Milton Keynes

I’ll be heading out there to see the work in the flesh or the fur, so to speak. Plus I’m also planning to meet with a few local furries to work on some new shoots. Because when in Rome…or Madrid you have to go the whole hog!

My photograph ‘Smirnoff, a husky wolf hybrid’, from the series ‘At Home With The Furries’, will be featured in the new photography publication;

1001 Photographs You Must See Before You Die.

Fittingly for the project, At Home With The Furries, this photograph is the very first picture I took for it. I remember arriving at Smirnoff’s house and after we had a cup of tea, I asked him to (fur) suit up. At that point I was astonished by the costume, the scenario of him being at home and I felt we needed something to ground his character into his surroundings. I also recall my nervousness, mostly from thinking I hadn’t thought this idea through. Afterwards I kept coming back to this image and it became the template for the rest of the project. The thought that, you could have walked into someone’s living room, discovered someone in a wolf suit playing a piano and the response from the wolf to be, “and what are you looking at?”

At Home With The Furries has become so much more than a photographic project, it has been exhibited in London with the furries themselves making an appearance. The furries have become my friends as I traversed the UK meeting them in their homes. I’m pleased that the photographs have appealed to people on so many different levels and perhaps best of all, it has encouraged people to get involved and come to their very first furmeet.

Is photography art, documentary, or both? Should images simply reveal the world we live in, or provoke us to think, act, and react?
A visually arresting reference, 1001 Photographs You Must See Before You Die is an invaluable guide to the history and practice of photography. Sweeping through the arts, fashion, society, war, peace, science, and nature, the images in this enticing book are as eye-catching as the commentary is engaging. Some you have seen, others will be unfamiliar, but what all the photographs have in common is their ability to move you, shock you, and open up the notion of what it is to be human.
Organised chronologically by the date that each image was made, and featuring a reproduction of each photograph, the selection provides some fascinating and unexpected juxtapositions. Insightful text uncovers the creative process behind each image, revealing its visual, aesthetic, and historic significance, Why was the photograph taken? Was it set up? What was the intention? How did the world react?
From Fox Talbot to Nick Knight, from Roger Fenton to William Eggleston, and from Cartier Bresson to Diane Arbus, all the photographers featured in this book transgressed the boundaries of the camera with a skill and spirit that helped to develop their field into a highly evocative art form.
In a world where millions of snapshots are taken every day, these exquisite images stand out for their eye-catching content and technical prowess, provoking reactions that range from joy, exasperation, and horror to fascination, repulsion and ecstasy. Uncovering the compelling tales behind the lens, this comprehensive global encyclopaedia reveals how this powerful art form has shaped the modern world.

Although I wanted this book review to start off as some sort of parable for a meaning in life, I didn’t want it to come across as so worthy or as dull as that. ( as though you can bring genuine meaning to a book review..Ed)

I was recently sent a copy of Céline Stella’s book, Nour by Justin Quirk who runs the photobook publisher, NOUFOS. It has a very simple premise, to document the shops and outlets around the area of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia at night. With the wonderful addition of neon light blazing out from all areas of the photographs.

The photographer who works in Saudi Arabia noticed neon-lit kiosks, food stalls and trucks whilst driving through the desert one night, she then shot the entire project over five days during Ramadan.

It is slightly bigger than A5 in size ( 18 x 25cm) , printed on a glossy black paper with spot varnish giving lovely tone and reproduction. It’s 40 pages long and is £15 plus P+P.

The pictures have a dreamy quality, I really liked the simple premise, the format and the way the book was designed and presented. Looking forward to more from NOUFOS.

Whilst I shamelessly rip off Bill and Ted’s line with one hand, I selflessly hold onto the lack of waspish ways within the anthropomorphic fandom. That’s right, where are the pretty stinging varieties; the wasps, the bees and the dragonflies. A distinct gap in the market, until now.

I met Hazel last weekend and she shared my surprise that the bringers of honey haven’t really been acknowledged within the furry community. The birds can call themselves ‘featheries’, the dragons and snakes have ‘scalies’, even horses can call themselves ‘hoofers’. Well maybe. What do the insects have? You tell me.

Sticks and Edward Fuzzypaws

As I wandered the streets of the City of London, I came across these unusual looking creatures. This was not planned at all honest. It wasn’t a special Christmas party for the Londonfurs I swear.

The badger who calls himself Feral seems suitably grumpy, he reminds me of ‘Badger’ from Fantastic Mr Fox. Hvedra is a cassiopeia and both are on the radar for At Home With The Furries

Pazuzu is a wonderful creature, calling himself a self-styled demon lord. He speaks as a character straight out of a Bram Stoker novel

A skulk of foxes, a pack of wolves, a terror of dragons and a smattering of cats, sheep and all manner of hybrid creatures lined up for the school photograph.

This new project, which I started under the auspices of the 100 year anniversary of the completion of the Corbett Estate (the 3000 Victorian houses that were built by Archibald Corbett from 1895-1913, in Catford, south east London) has become an exploration of a local area through the people who live here. Its aims are to find out about the heart of the community and the way that members of this community can and do make a positive difference to how we live together.

It’s in the early stages as I photograph people within Catford and if I wanted to find a single line to describe this project it would be a question more than a statement, What is local community and why is it important?

With this in mind I photographed Peter Ranken, the chairman of the Archibald Corbett Society; a community group dedicated to preserving the history and future legacy of the Corbett Estate.

Elisabeth Blanchet is a photographer who has set up a museum in an existing ‘prefab’ house on the Excalibur Estate in Catford, South East London. It is a gallery and tea room dedicated to preserving the history of prefabricated housing in the UK. The Excalibur Estate was built by German and Italian POWs after the second world war as a temporary solution to the housing crisis caused by the Blitz. Despite the strong community spirit fostered over the years and the historical nature of this estate, most of the housing has been earmarked for redevelopment.

Julia Burke is a community activist for both The Archibald Corbett Society and the Corbett Residents Association. She is heavily involved in local issues and has lived in the Corbett Estate in Catford for over 20 years.

Ricky Boyce has lived in the Corbett Estate, in Catford for nearly 15 years. His trade as a plumber takes him all over Catford and beyond. He volunteered his time to take part in the launch of the Corbett Portraits Competition, a photography prize that rewards the best portraits taken of anyone who lives and works in the Corbett Estate.